Greece: Day 5- The Impresario and the Streets

Wednesday was another "free day" in terms of the photo shoot with classical guitarist Iakovos Kolanian. The plan was for producer/photographer Kevork Imirzian and I to head into town together with Iakovos seeing students for the day. Once in town, Kevork and I would head over to a great little label called Libra Music. After that, I would head over to two distributors in Greece to see if they were interested in carrying Pomegranate as a record label. Kev would continue to hit the streets of Athens to see if we can get "the shot" for our album.

Athens these days has less traffic than before due to the new spectacular Metro system they have developed and the traffic curbing measures of driving into town on specific days according to your car inspection sticker. From the Gerakas neighborhood where Iakovos lives, it took about 25 minutes to get to the Megaro Musikee area near Syntagma near the center of town. We decided to go to Libra Music first. Libra is a small, but interesting music label based in Athens. For those who recall, they signed Ara Dinkjian and Arto Tuncboyaciyan to a couple of albums in the mid 1990's that helped Arto get his career started there. Ara was already well known with his "Dinata" single with Elefthreia Arvanitaki. Also featured on Libra was the group Nor Dar with Kora Mikaelyan. After a little difficulty, we tracked down Libra Music and Kev ended up buying a CD there. We weren't treated with the best manners in the world considering we had come all the way from Boston to visit the company and actually purchase a CD. But, what can you do. We picked up their catalog and were on our way.

Once Kev and I were at Syntagma Square (the Hrabarag of Athens), we split with him off to capture new photos. I was on my way to "Greek Record Club", a distributor who handles all of the classical music distribution in Greece, Nestled inside a small arcade where the Opera House is located, I made my pitch to them and found out that the guy was spoke to was a former student of Iakovos. I promised to call back in a few days. I offered my Pomegranate catalog to them, with the highlight being Iakovos's upcoming CD's. After walking in 60 degree weather, I decided to take the Metro to another distributor about 40 minutes away from where I currently was. I walked into Kinesis Music and was promtly rejected, although very nicely by the person who makes distribution there. I had to wait about 1 hour to catch a cab to the Metro station and had an interesting conversation with a Greek violinist taking the cab with me. She lamented how tough it was to make it in the music business in Greece without connections. I remarked that I could sympathize with her.

Once I got to the home Metro stop, I took the bus and then cab back to Iakovos's place where he had some news for me. At about 7pm, we were expected at the home of the Impresario's house. That was the good news. The bad news was that the outside chance of a meeting with the famous Greek composer was off. He could not see us. Mixed feelings for sure, but, it would have been a miracle to be able to sit and visit with the famous Greek composer.

The ride from Iakovos's place to Nikos Moraitit's studio home was about an hour away. It was located in a posh suburb of Athens the name I cannot remember. The jet lag was kicking in. I had to be in top form as Nikos was one of the legendary impresarios in Greece having brough in the likes of Marcel Marceau, Mercedes Sosa, and exporting talent such as George Dalaras, Mikis Theodorakis, and Harris Alexiou. Iakovos had even been presented by Nikos a few years back as well as a new Latin American tour Nikos is putting together for him in the fall 2006. The specific reason we were going there was to strike a distribution deal for him to take care of our Iakovos Kolanian current and future CD's. In addition, it was nice to meet the Kolanian representation Greece while he met the North American representation of Iakovos in myself.

Heading into Nikos's studio, there were guitars everywhere. Posters signifying past concerts were on the walls. There was a great big piano in the middle of the room. A 60 something Moraitis with his French wife greeted Iakovos and I warmly. We struck a deal for the Iakovos Barrios CD as well as Shoror. I also listened intently while asking questions of how the impresario business worked. Given Nikos's vast experience, I was drinking in the water he poured (A Iakovos expression)in terms of anecdoes. I learned more from him in one hour than I had learned in 4 years of presenting concerts in the US. It was a mindblowing experience. We set plans to have dinner waterside in his town on Friday night at 8:30pm. We were leaving Saturday morning at around 4am, so, this would be our final experience in Greece, dinner with the great impresario. He was so connected, it was beyond ridicuous (in a good way). I felt we had made our connection in Greece and was content knowing that our work would be thorough and complete.

On the ride home, I told Iakovos that I felt like he had personaly ushered me to the top ranks of the music field in Greece and that I appreciated his support. While it was my job to make sure Iakovos was represented properly in the US and North America through recordings and concerts, I felt he was taking care of me in Greece doing what he could to not only help himself, but help my career as well. It's artists like this that don't come around often. It's a professional relationship I would eventually thank Kevork Imirzian for introducing me to. Without him, I would have never been able to meet Iakovos Kolanian and so on.

Once home, all four of us had a home made dinner and enjoyed our modest success that night. From my own vantage point, I suddenly thought to myself how amazing it was to be doing exactly what I wanted to be pursuing in my life, making records and presenting music. It doesn't get better than that.

Top Photo by Kevork Imirzian.

Greece: Day 6 Preview; The island Hydra- the photo shoot continues. Donkeys, no cars, a quaint island.